A 17-yr-old girl from Wexford has been unable to attend school for over a year because the school she is supposed to go to cannot provide the specialized nursing care she requires, reports RTE.
Both the school and Cedhla Connolly’s family say the Health Service Executive has approved the provision of this service, yet they are unable to understand why it has not been implemented.
Cedhla has both intellectual and physical disabilities and cannot live independently.
In 2023, she underwent a complex scoliosis-related surgery and spent most of the year in the hospital recovering, reports RTE.
By January last year, she was ready to return to St. Patrick’s Special School in Enniscorthy.
However, since the operation, Cedhla occasionally requires a medical procedure called deep suction to clear mucus from her lungs, and her school needs a specially trained nurse to perform it, reports RTE.
School principal Leigh Rogers sought approval from the HSE and the Department of Education and received confirmation for the position last July. However, Mr. Rogers stated that the HSE has yet to make the appointment, leaving him uncertain about the reason for the delay.
“It is very frustrating, especially when the solution is there,” he said, reports RTE.
“A nurse has been sanctioned and there are people in the state who can provide the service,” reports RTE.
As Cedhla is non-verbal, her parents spoke on her behalf to RTÉ News.
“She misses her friends,” said her mother, Sheila Connolly, reports RTE.
“She loves getting on the bus with Fran [the driver] of a morning. He puts the music on and she has her friends. I know she doesn’t communicate great, but people who know her know the way she is. She will clap her hands as soon as she knows Fran is here to come and take her, and she looks at me as if to say ‘You can go now, this is my time’,” reports RTE.
Among her friends on the bus and at school is her best friend, Jay, whose hand she enjoys holding.
“We love her, but she needs space away from us,” Ms. Connolly said. “What 17-year-old wants to be with her parents 24/7? She needs to mix with people her own age and who are like her and who she can be herself with,” reports RTE.
Ms. Connolly explained that they attempted to bring Cedhla to school for brief visits of around 30 minutes so she could spend some time with her classmates. However, Cedhla became distressed, realizing she could only stay for a short while and that her mother had to accompany her.
Time is running out for Cedhla, as she will turn 18 next June and will have to leave school.
Mr. Rogers said that in the meantime, she is missing out when she should be “spending time [with her peers] and bonding and growing,” reports RTE.
Her parents have noticed the effect this isolation is having on her.
“Some mornings she just doesn’t want to get out of bed,” her father, Marc, said, reports RTE.
“We’ve been telling her that you are going to go back to school and now we feel like we have been lying to her.”
The HSE has been contacted for comment but has not yet responded, reports RTE.
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